Dublin-set short film offers little for the viewer's attention

B-movie director Francis Searle went to Dublin to shoot this, the fifth of seven short films that ended his career, all of them of middling to poor quality. These films are quite unclassifiable for the most part, because their plots are invariably unsatisfying and they don't really have a genre of such other than in their depiction of a slice-of-life late '60s realism.

THE PALE FACED GIRL is a particularly poor effort that suffers from a lack of decent characterisation and some unintentionally unpleasant creations. Writer Lee Dunne never amounted to much, having only written the odd episode of CALLAN and forgotten Sid James TV show TAXI! The story is about a group of lads who go out on the pull on a Saturday night and in particular the meeting between one of their number, Mick, and Cecelia, who he has his eye on.

The narrative follows the pair through a handful of mildly embarrassing situations where it soon becomes apparent that Mick is a rather disturbed creation prone to self-reflective narrative that the viewer is forced to listen in on thanks to some voice-over work. He's presented as a romantic loner but comes across as more of a serial killer type. Fidelma Murphy is pretty as the object of his affections, but this all seems to be played for some non-existent laughs, which are so tame that I didn't even recognise them.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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It's Saturday night in Dublin, and Mick is attempting to chat up Cecilia.

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Fidelma Murphy in The Pale Faced Girl (1968)

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The Pale Faced Girl

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